Synopsis:

A comedy set in a world where no one has ever lied, until a writer seizes the opportunity for personal gain.

The Freak's Rating: D+ : I have loved Ricky Gervais since the original Office aired on BBC. Since then I adored the HBO comedy Extras, so my first disclaimer to my horrible review of his latest comedic venture is that I do enjoy the man's dry wit. Many who do not will never take a chance on this film and those who do will leave extremely dissappointed.

Inconsistency in original storylines is hard to come by. Here we are told as the audience that in this world there are no lies. Inriguing right? We aren't told that people are indecent and at times inhuman to one another, which creates a major problem in the storytelling. Lets say for example, that my wife and I are in the checkout line at Target and Kate Beckinsale is checking out in front of us. It is one thing for my wife to ask me, "do you think she is pretty?" and for me to say "yes" since I cannot lie. It is quite another for me to simply blurt out to my wife, "that girl is georgeous, she is way more attractive than you". The Invention Of Lying has some funny jokes based on the principle idea but they take the latter approach, with most of the comments sounding rude rather than honest. This tactic is quite offputting and lost me early on.

Another major flaw of the film is casting. Jennifer Garner is decent looking at best. With a facial structure of a construction worker and a body of a wide receiver, she isn't exactly a knockout. We are led to believe she is the most desirable woman on the planet, which never works for a second.

Supporting roles are over the top in their delivery as well, which is a shame since Louis C K and Rob Lowe probably could have pulled off some good comedy. The writing gets a tad serious at points which also takes you away from the picture. Overall this is a film you should definitely skip past at the video store. Venture into the Television section and rent the first season of Extras to get a true dose of what Gervais can do.

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